Because when you put a sign up next to a freeway, people will read it until somebody takes it down.

.
Send pictures to freewayblogger -AT- yahoo.com

Monday, April 09, 2007

Chicago, IL

60 feet long and only lasted about fifteen minutes, but well worth it according to the artists. Made with cheap latex paint and disposable plastic tablecloths: about ten dollars for a hundred foot roll. Brilliant.

Hi, I was one of the (2) people who put up this banner in Chicago. Thanks for your supportive comments. We used a roll of cheap plastic white tablecloth, available at party supply stores or websites. Using a Sharpie I traced out the letters with a digital projector (you can also use an overhead or slide projector) using Adobe Illustrator (Word or Wordpad is fine too). I tacked and untacked the roll to the wall as I moved down the roll. After tracing, I rolled it up and took it to my comrade's house. There, we laid it out on his very long driveway, held down edges of the plastic with a few rocks and painted the letters in quickly with cheap red latex paint. Don't spend too much time being perfect with the letters, because from 10-20 feet, nobody can detect those imperfections. Then we duct-taped some pieces of wire to the edges: on the corners and about every 8 feet or so. All in all, it took about 2 hours (results may vary). At the pedestrian overpass at Bryn Mawr over I-90 (inbound to Chicago loop at rush hour) my comrade unrolled as I fastened the wires to the chain link fence. Once unrolled, we went back and further secured the sign from the wind by stretching duct tape from the top to the bottom about every 4 feet (if you look closely at the pic you can see it through the light plastic). It took about 3-5 minutes to set up with two people, but I recommend 3. If it had not been for Illinois Dept of Transportation clean up guys seeing it so quickly, it could have stayed up for a lot longer. While we were putting it up, the supportive honks from the hundreds of cars passing by was DEAFENING! It was so visible, that people in the opposite 4 lanes were honking as they read it in their rear-view mirrors. Try this at home kids! Thanks again for posting your comments of support!

You left wing moon sorts are so one sided , tsk . I can clearly see the opposing traffic was excluded from the "Debate" , tsk tsk . Unbalanced . Thank goodness we have a gut level check on the national balance .

If the sign makers were willing to stand with the sign for a while - no one can make them take it down while they are there. it would have lasted more than 15 minutes that way. In that case, they should have just stood with the sign for however long they could, then roll it up to take home and do again another day.

This banner *is* the other side of the debate -- the hawks and the clueless neo-cons have had almost six years of largely unopposed and uncritical regurgitation of the propaganda, lies and spin. When war protesters and critics of the administration dared to speak out, they were ridiculed or arrested -- how's that for free speech.

And yet the critics were right from the get-go, while the crap being spewed by the mainstream media and the administration has remained demonstrably and lamentably false all along. You can debate all you want, but when you lie and the banner speaks the truth you're eventually going to have to admit defeat and deal with it.

That banner speaks the truth to power, and is a perfect counter-argument to all those lame "support the troops" ribbons riding shotgun next to the "Dubya '04" stickers...

You are real patriots and good men! Keep up the great work - more and more on buses and on the street I hear Americans expressing their discontent and their fury over this administrations lies and corruption!

As someone who occasionally has to venture out to Chicago's NW suburbs (the origin of this highway), I can categorically say that the people who saw this sign are some of those most in need of an eye-opening in this respect.

Really, such a nuanced critique, how could it not help spark debate and conversation.

Please, try doing something constructive rather than a fascination with bemoaning the current state of affairs. What is positive and empowering about this? It shills to the people who agree and will anger those who don't. And thus, in the end, nothing is accomplished.

And as for "nuanced" critique we all no that you're not allowed to be nuanced with this administration. Then you're Flip Flopping! You can't make a qualified statement with these guys, it's either their way or the highway.

Not only are they liars, they are facists that value party loyalty over the good of our country and its people.

I wouldn't have minded being stuck in traffic that day if I could have seen this sign. Yay Chicago!

To those who say this does not serve the debate, so what? It's not supposed to. Not everything is. It's a cathartic excercise of a freedom we may soon lose.

Yee who nay-say this act said the same thing after the Boston Tea Party to the same effect. The two who did this are both American Patriots and Heroes of the highest American order in the best American tradition.

All that I am saying is that it is like an intellectual circle jerk. What does this prove or accomplish? Nothing. They would be better off spending their time registering people to vote, or spreading actual education in order to mobilize people in a significant, meaningful way. This, this is nothing other than self-congratulatory and makes the people who did it feel self-satisfied.

Gotta disagree with Adam. There are plenty of people registering others to vote. There are plenty of people willing to march on Washington. For several years, even though George Bush's popularity was lower than his UNpopularity, we were told by the right-wing noise machine that Dumbya was a popular President. They made so much noise, in so many news media outlets, that anyone who didn't support King Little Boots had a feeling that they were all alone. Banners like the one above, followed by honking in support let's others know that when they think that King George is batshit crazy, that they're not alone. That is exactly how we'll defeat the wingnut noise machine.

Gonna disagree with Adam here too. Why should only corporations and commercial interests be allowed to decorate the freeways with their messages. Why should the Bill O'Reillys of this world get to spew their shit to 25 million households a day while the rest of us shuffle around handing out pamphlets...

Your point is certainly well-taken and entirely valid. I suppose what bothers me the most (and I didn't explicitly say this) is that it is almost representative of an entire generation of people who would rather bitch than actually do something constructive, break a Starbucks window than read a book, bang a drum than try to understand why exactly we are where we are. Why? Because it is easier, much easier. In the end, it only serves the interests of those who would rather keep us uninvolved and ill-informed.

"..After tracing, I rolled it up and took it to my comrade's house...."

You are a bunch of commie scum. I can't believe i am lowering myself by even acknowledging your 'struggle'. You should all be ashamed. I know your dead grandparents who fought for this country are ashamed of you.

I'd like to do a poll to see how many of you have jobs. No, dispensing latte does not count.

Offending the masses will get you nowhere. Other than a sick satisfaction, which must have been your objective. And, I see you created a vicarious thrill to all the other ignorant low class liberals toasting your accomplishment.

Too bad you aren't a savvy politician who understands how to acutally accomplish something through the system. But, by your uneducated choice of words I see that is beyond your capabilities. Maybe a painter is your best and highest occupation, although you are not exceptional at that either!

George W. Bush will undoubtedly go down as one of the five worst persons to ever serve as President. Saying that he is "full of shit" is far too kind as assessment of this arrogant bastard's insides. He has not only damaged the image of our wonderful country beyond reasonable repair, he has single-handedly done more to bring upon us and all future generations the very real damage of Global Warming. You could have made this sign 10-miles long and you would not have had sufficient room to say all the derogatory things that need to be said about this douche-bag. We can only hope that our country has learned enough of a lesson to make sure we never again have someone even similar to Bush and Cheney living in Washington.